


Learning to adapt

by lonerfangirl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, One Shot, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 20:10:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonerfangirl/pseuds/lonerfangirl
Summary: Rey gets sick and neither can deal





	Learning to adapt

It had been a long day. Once she had boarded the falcon, she was bombarded with questions about what she had been doing in the months of her absence. Her body was in pain; from her head all the way down to her toes, she ached. Coupled with the emotional weight of learning about Luke’s sacrifice and reuniting with Finn, she was ready to collapse.

 

Besides, he seemed busy enough with his friend anyway.

*****

When they had returned back to the base, she had been escorted by a droid to a small room and left. She’d washed and redressed in her shirt and pants, leaving her outer layers off and she succumbed to sleep.

 

She woke up with one of the worst headaches of her life, shivering, feeling sick and with a scratchy throat. Groaning, she rolled over and into a fetal position and tried to ignore the sun that was shining brightly into her eyes. She heard a gentle knock on her door that felt like hell on her brain and she tried to ignore it, pulling her knees closer to her chest and sliding further into the comfort of her bed.

 

Whoever was at the door knocked again and she groaned louder, rolling herself out of bed with her sheet draped around her shoulders like a cape. She pressed the button and the door split, revealing Finn on the other side, holding bread, a banana and blackberries. He took in the sight of her and gasped. “Rey! Are you alright? What happened to you?”

 

She looked to her left and quickly scanned over her appearance: her hair hung loosely and messily around her shoulders and down her back, her nose was red and blocked and she was covered in a light layer of sweat. “I’m sick.” She whispered, letting out a violent cough as she walked slowly back to the bed, pulling the sheet back over her body and up to her neck, leaving only her head exposed.

 

Finn set down the food on the table and sat besides her on the bed, looking down at her red face. His body blocked the blinding sunlight from her eyes, and she sighed in relief as her vision returned to her. She looked up at him, the worry written all over his face. She cleared her throat and spoke hoarsely. “Will you close the curtains please?”

 

He nodded quickly and jumped up, pulling the curtains together before he turned back to her. “I’ll go get some water and medicine. I might ask BB-8 what to do because I don’t know how to take care of sick people.”

 

“No!” Her outburst caused her to break out in violent coughs as she sat up, heaving over her bed, willing herself not to throw up.

 

By the time she’d finished, her head hurt so much that she felt dizzy. She didn’t even notice the hand that was pressed against her back, steadying her into a still position. Slowing down her breathing, she looked into his eyes and spoke. “I don’t want anyone to look after me. I’ll be fine tomorrow anyway.”

 

His eyed her with judgment written all over his face, moving his hand from her back and stood up again, heading for the door. He walked out and left Rey alone, slightly shell shocked at the fact that he had left her. She huffed weakly and sniffed, wiping her runny nose on the corner of her pants. She then slowly peeled them off, leaving herself in only herunderwear and shirt. She’d probably use her pyjamas as a giant tissue because no way was she getting up unless she had to.

 

Just as she closed her eyes again, she heard knocking on her door once again. This time however, it was louder and heavier. She groaned angrily and stood up as quickly as she could, throwing the covers off herself. She stormed across the room and opened her door, coming face-to-face with a very flustered Finn. He looked at her red face before his eyes dropped down to her bare legs before they quickly flew back up to her own startled face.

 

He felt his face heat up as he cleared his throat and began to talk. “I know you don’t want anyone to take care of you, but I got all this stuff and I thought I could at least keep you company?”

 

For the first time, she noticed the large tray in his hands with tissue, medicine and water on it. She caught his eye again before motioning him into the room, as for the third time today she retreated under her covers.

 

He pulled bare wooden chair up next to the bed and unscrewed the bottle of water, holding it out to her. She considered the option of dealing her dry throat or sucking up her pride and accepting his help. She sighed and took the bottle from him as she began to sip, the cool drink instantly calming her throat as she sighed.

 

He smiled at her before leaning back on the chair and putting his feet up on her bed. “I told everyone that you’re not well so you’ll be alone for most of the day. Apart from me, I’ll be here.”

 

She felt anger flare up in her. Defensive, burning anger. It wasn’t his place to tell anybody how she was. “Why did you do that? I don’t need anyone to think I need pity or help because I don’t!” The water had made it much easier to be angry at him, she felt better and her energy had risen.

 

Finn blinked in shock and dropped his feet from her bed. “What’s so bad about me wanting to make sure you get better? The less people come in here, the less germs there are! Do you wanna be all by yourself?” He finished, chest rising as they stared at each other, each stubbornly willed not to break.

 

Finally, after over a minute of silence, Rey spoke up. “I’ve never had anyone look after me. It’s been me by myself and that’s the way I like it. When people get close to you, they get killed.”

 

Tears started to form in her eyes as she remembered everyone she had lost: her family, Han, and Luke. All of them without a proper goodbye, not knowing what she had said to them would be the last thing she could ever say to them.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry.” She refused to look at him, now finding the bedsheet between her crossed legs very interesting as she forced herself not to shed a tear. “I don’t-I don’t know how to take care of people. In the First Order we never did that. All we did was train and if you underperformed then...” His eyes clouded over with memory as he shuddered. “They killed you.”

 

Rey gulped she studied his own face. His eyes carried a distant look as he spaced out. He looked past her, to a time or place she didn’t know. He’d probably had a harder life than her, she was just being selfish.

 

“I’m sorry.” They said together. A small grin broke out on their faces as he held out his arms, which she leaned into as they hugged. Her shivers slowed slightly as the warmth of his chest spread throughout her body.

 

She pulled away and wrapped the covers around her body. Her body broke out into violent coughs again and she hugged her blanket tighter around herself as she rocked. Each cough constricted her breathing even more and after over ten seconds of continuous coughing, all she could do was exhale with a wheeze. Her face was beetroot red as she struggled to breathe, feeling her consciousness slip away. Everything became blurry and she felt dizzy and tired. She felt herself fall backwards onto the bed before a strong pair of arms caught her.

 

She couldn’t hear but she imagined he was shouting her name. It sounded so nice when it came out of his lips and she kept hearing it over and over as she slipped in and out of sleep. She reached out to something in front of her to try and pull herself up, back into the world. Whatever it was was warm and familiar, she loved the scent of it. She reached out with both of her hands before she was lurched forward and vomited last night’s dinner.

 

She gasped as a cold rush of air went down her throat and filled her lungs. She felt a pair of cool hands against her neck as her hair was kept out of her face. She looked at the man she knew was there and wiped the vomit from her mouth.

 

He looked slightly disgusted but on the whole his face seemed concerned. “That’s so gross.”

 

She rolled her eyes and pulled her hair out of his grasp again, crawling back up to the head of her bed and settling in. “Yeah I know. Thanks for telling me.”

 

“Hey wait I didn’t mean it like that!” He was panicking; he didn’t want her to be mad at him. Especially if she was sick. “I just don’t know what to do or to say. Like I said, I’m new to this.” His hand was wrapped in her pyjama pants as he covered the vomit on the floor. He stood up and shrugged before returning to his seat.

 

“Then why are you doing it?” Her voice was softer now. She’d been drained by the interaction and the coughing.

 

Their eyes met and he spoke softly. “Because I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

 

“That, and I’ve never see you with your hair down. You look beautiful.”

 

She felt the blush spread across her face before she could stop it. Her smile met his as he stood up and kissed her forehead. “I’m gonna go get you more water.”

 

Watching him leave, she sighed and allowed herself to laugh, something that apparently happened mostly when she was with him.

 

Maybe having someone taking care of her wasn’t such a bad thing. As long as it was him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @xjustasupernovax on tumblr for the prompt!
> 
> My tumblr @failed-potato


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